Defense of Marriage Act *update*

Waiting for these people

to stop impersonating this person

The Defense of Marriage Act is one of the most reprehensible legislative acts that has existed in my own short lifetime. Great strides have been made in the last few decades but it’s more than upsetting just how damn long it takes to just treat people good. Humanity has a shitty record with bringing equality about.

Hell, just 6 years before I was born it was still legal to fire a woman for being pregnant. Legislation was passed in 1978 to prohibit that practice. I’m assuming it was wide-spread enough to actually require legislation. I don’t see a lot of laws passed protecting people from infractions that are minimal (even if that’s what should happen in the name of equality – you’ve still gotta make a big enough case). And yet pregnancy discrimination still happens….

Affordable Care Act

Since the President and Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 the conservatives have done nothing but try to repeal it. In fact 37 times they have unsuccessfully voted on a repeal. With a floundering economy (jobs don’t equate a good economy to me – it requires quality jobs[fuck walmart]), struggling poor and middle class, the destruction of unions, and mass murderers run amok with semi-automatic weapons they spend their time focusing on repealing legislation designed to help those who don’t wish to go into debt in order to merely….live.

Reprehensible.

Ehhh….

I could write entire blogs on every issue I just briefly mentioned and perhaps will at some point. The bottom line is that even if the Supreme Court finally overturns DOMA, which I do believe will happen at a 5-4 or 6-3 vote, then the fight is not over. The Affordable Care Act was ruled Constitutional and yet the conservatives seem hell-bent on tearing it to shreds. It’s not surprising. The same thing happened with Medicare. Fortunately no conservative President was sitting in the Executive Branch again until the program became so popular that repeal was impossible to the conservative base because the program was….successful.

These conservatives will do their best to undermine Congress the same with DOMA. The fight will be far from over. It rarely is over. We must be watchdogs. We must be wary. We must be ready to fight.

I just wish they’d quit with the suspense and put forward their rulings on the big issues. I guess even the SCOTUS likes some drama now and then…

[important]DOMA was rightfully declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court this morning. Let Freedom Ring![/important]

Healthcare: Make no mistake about it, I have no political affiliations so don’t try to pigeon hole me into some category. I’m not in lock-step with anyone, that’s what fascist do. Requiring me to purchase a product I won’t use is simply –fascist. So that’s what direction you want our country to go? I haven’t been to a western medicine doctor for 30 years. I have been using traditional Chinese medicine with great success. Haven’t been sick for years. If you support forcing me to purchase that type of medicine the why don’t I force you to purchase mine. It’s a bogus argument for both sides. Since you were in the military I can understand why you want some kind of national health care. That’s fine, why not establish a national program that is optional. Forcing me to participate will only make me dig in and fight. Too the death if necessary. Do you want to be fighting other American citizens in our streets? Ever been to south America during a revolution? I was in El Salvador in the 80′s and don’t remember seeing you. Looks like you need a lesson in history. The Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776 is the only proof I need. You motivations are righteous, but your ideals are flawed.

DOMA: Unbelievable. Who in their right mind would think this is a good idea. Oh, wait, I know the answer insecure fools. If there were any individuals that I could think of that belong in Guantanamo it would be anyone who voted for it or supported it. Complete madness leading to insanity. Can’t wait to see how the court rules on it. The good thing is, it looks like they will rule it unconstitutional.

Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden

Forcing me to participate will only make me dig in and fight. Too the death if necessary. Do you want to be fighting other American citizens in our streets?

You will kill other people to avoid paying a tax penalty of $64 a month which goes to fund insurance.

By definition most people don’t use their insurance. That’s why it’s called insurance. But insurance doesn’t work unless there’s a pool of money flowing in to cover those people who do get hit by cars. Moreover, ***you use the US allopathic health care system***.

When you don’t get smallpox or malaria year after year: you are using the US allopathic health care system. When your children don’t get measles and die: you are using the US allopathic health care system. When everyone else in your office gets the flu vaccine and you wander around telling everyone how unnecessary it was b/c look, the flu never came to your office anyway: you are using the US allopathic health care system. When your Chinese medicine provider offers you nutrition counseling on something other than rice, duck, pork, yak milk, and water buffalo? Yeah, hate to break it to you, but that provider is using research from the US allopathic health care system. Thus you are using the US allopathic health care system.

And you, superior person that you are and understanding political freedom and the nature of insurance who never ever ever would take advantage of another person and therefore have the moral right to insist that no one take advantage of you?

You are declaring your willingness to literally murder people to save yourself $64 that would otherwise flow to programs that make sick people well. Making sick people well must be a truly horrific goal in your world.

Congratulations on finding your own internal limits on your willingness to refrain from killing others. That’s an important psychological exercise for all of us, even if for most of us that limit is somewhere between, “only when I am violently attacked and cannot end the threat any other way,” and “F’n never”.

Your willingness to destroy people’s families, to cause death, and to start war over $64/month tells us quite a lot about you, actually.

What concerns me about that conclusion has nothing to do with whether you might be a Democratic or Republican voter.

dianne

I haven’t been to a western medicine doctor for 30 years.

That’s nice. I am a western medicine doctor and end up seeing a lot of people who haven’t seen a doctor in 30 years-until their untreated hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol give them a stroke or heart attack. Or their untreated cancer becomes too painful to deal with. Or their anemia becomes so severe that they can’t walk in the door but have to be carried in.

That you know of. Hypertension is asymptomatic…until it causes a stroke. Diabetes is often asymptomatic…until it causes kidney failure, blindness, or hyperosmolar coma. Cancer is often asymptomatic…until it’s too late. You might be perfectly fine. Then again, you might not be. No one lives forever and few people die of true “old age”. You’ll likely suffer from an age related disease at some time. Will you consistently refuse “western” medicine (i.e. statins developed in Japan or arsenic trioxide developed in China) if and when you do? And who will pick up the bill if you don’t have medical insurance?

kingoftoasty

Honestly, I can’t see why people are so up in arms about over this health insurance mandate. The government already requires you to purchase things that you in all likelihood will not use – auto insurance – but I don’t see anyone willing to take up arms and kill people to defend against that particular form of ‘government fascism’. There really isn’t any difference between that and this.

dianne

The government already requires you to purchase things that you in all likelihood will not use — auto insurance

Actually, I don’t have auto insurance for the simple reason that I don’t have a car. Which means that the government is requiring me to “purchase” (i.e. is spending my tax money on) roads that I don’t use. To the barricades!!

Pierce R. Butler

Crip Dyke @ # 2 – Well ranted!

Paul Loebe

Candace, thanks for the laughs. That was hilariously entertaining.

Cat Burns

Paul, there is always going to be one!! I agree so much with what Diane said “TCM isn’t. It’s something Mao thought up. And it’s extremely environmentally unfriendly. Thank you for killing the black rhino.”

Really Candace Lopez, You are a disgusting human being and not only are your views worthless and selfish you have the utter nerve to claim “natural” when in reality you and your homeopathy, is destroying our natural world..

I wish there were an opt out for the Heath Care Insinuative, and that when you DO get sick you would be refused treatment.

http://www.gregory-gadow.net Gregory in Seattle

The Supreme Court has announced that all of the remaining cases will be announced today; that includes the two marriage rulings.

I am cautiously optimistic, as today is the 10th anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas, the ruling that struck down all sodomy laws in the country. And Alito has been giving speeches muttering about how liberal activist courts are destroying the nation, which, from him, can only mean good things.

dianne

They’ve already done what is probably the most damaging thing they could have done, i.e. gutting the voting rights act. This will likely lead to a new version of DOMA even if this one is struck down, further damage to the medical care system, etc as “pro-business” idiots get elected more often than ever.

Trebuchet

DOMA has been struck down.

Paul Loebe

FUCK YEAH!!!

Gvlgeologist, FCD

Gregory in Seattle:

And Alito has been giving speeches muttering about how liberal activist courts are destroying the nation.

If striking down VRA, passed almost unanimously by congress, is not “activist”, I don’t know what is.

But to a conservative, “activist” means, “a court decision I don’t agree with”.

http://www.gregory-gadow.net Gregory in Seattle

Clarification: The Denial of Marriage Act was NOT declared unconstitutional: only Section 3, which forbade the federal government from recognizing legally married same-sex couples, is gone. Section 2, which allows states to piss on the Full Faith and Credit Clause with regards to same-sex marriage, remains in full force; and the constitutionality of state bans on same-sex marriage remains unaddressed.

Appeals can only rule on matters arising in the original trial. This might touch on arguments made by either side, the evidence presented or not, procedural matters in the handling of the case before and during the trial, and so on. Since Windsor touched on the constitutionality of federal recognition of an otherwise legal marriage, only Section 3 was under consideration at trial. Under US judicial procedure, none of the appeals were permitted to raise questions about Section 2 or state bans.

This is not a minor win, however. In writing the majority opinion, Kennedy noted that the sole purpose of DOMA was to punish same-sex couples simply for being same-sex couples, which was a direct and blatant violation of their Fifth Amendment right to due process. This argument is now a matter of US common law and can be cited by all courts in the nation to strike down other aspects of DOMA. By the time another marriage case reaches the Supreme Court, there should be a large number of lower court rulings that the Supremes will find very awkward to brush aside.

DOMA has been given a fatal blow, but it isn’t dead quite yet.

sc_770d159609e0f8deaa72849e3731a29d

“No man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted”

…then the old definition of marriage wasn’t insttuted by a Supreme God.

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